Art Berke, a lifelong White Sox fan, has worked at the highest levels of the sports industry with Major League Baseball, ABC Television and Sports Illustrated. He grew up in Northwest Indiana, in the shadow of old Comiskey Park, and proudly proclaims 2005 as the best year of his life. Art offers his glass half-full opinions and observations as he lives and dies with the Sox.

It’s easy to point to the sloppy defense and bad baserunning as the reasons for last night’s 5-4 defeat at the hands of the Angels. A loss, by the way, that dropped the Sox to 6 1/2 games behind the Tigers in the A.L. Central.

But the truth is that it’s the same old story for the Sox that has plagued them throughout this maddening season. Suffice it to say that, in my view, if Adam Dunn, Alex Rios and Gordon Beckham had just decent seasons that 6 1/2 game deficit would be wiped out and the Sox, with their solid pitching, would be on top of the division.

Just look at what one man–Justin Verlander–has done for Detroit. The team is 12 games above .500 with him on the mound, a .500 team without him. Think about the impact Dunn, Rios and Beckham would have had with fairly good seasons.

Here are the numbers through 127 games:

–Dunn: .167, 11 homers, 40 RBIs

–Rios: .214, 8 homers, 31 RBIs

–Beckham: .238, 9 homers, 34 RBIs

It’s hard to reach the postseason when three key cogs in the offense perform at such a low level.

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True, those three have had miserable seasons. But, just like the Sox can look at a handful of games that could have gone the other way and put them on top of the division, the Tigers can look at their own handful of games that got away and they would still be ahead of the Sox. I’m resigned to the same fact that I was back in February and March. The Tigers are clearly a better team than the Sox. The “All In” gave the Sox two of their own players back, a slugging left-handed hitter (who clearly has been a bust) and a reworked bullpen. Not enough, and never was enough, in my estimation to proclaim “All In” and to make the Sox a favorite to win the division. I have yet to throw in the towel, but I am keeping it nearby for that eventual toss . . . . . . .

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